Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) Inventory Management

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Storage of Supplies

The TPN must be refrigerated. Allow 12 hours for the solution to reach room temperature before infusing. A small refrigerator may be supplied, if you need additional refrigerator space. All of the supplies should be stored together in an area that is clean and dry. It is best to store your supplies in the same room in which you will be setting up your infusions. A Patient Care Representative will help you manage your supplies and coordinate your deliveries. This person will ask you to count your supplies on a regular basis. Your Patient Care Representative will periodically call to find out your supply count and to tell you when the next delivery of supplies will be made. If you have only one or two days of supplies remaining, please call your Patient Care Representative.

Frequency of Delivery

Your total parenteral nutrition solution will be delivered by Penn HomeIT once a week or as needed. The other supplies will be delivered monthly, or as needed.

In addition to your TPN solution, the delivery will also include:

dressing change kits

filters

tape

IV tubing

medications which are added to the bag or used to flush your catheter

container in which to dispose of needles and syringes

pump

IV pole (if needed)

Safe Needle Disposal

Penn HomeIT will regularly pick up the needle container and dispose of it safely.

Supply Return

The only items that can be returned to Penn HomeIT are the pump and IV pole (if you have one). All of the other supplies including TPN, medications, dressing supplies, needles, and syringes are given with a doctor's prescription and cannot be legally returned.

Nov 29, 2012 - For patients with advanced cancer in hospices, providing parenteral saline (1 liter per day) does not improve symptoms associated with dehydration, quality of life, or overall survival compared with placebo, according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.